Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"Yang Ce, I remember you already have a girlfriend, don't you?" Having gotten his confirmation, Huang Lin's face darkened with anger. "What exactly is going on here?"

"Brother Huang, there are too many people here. Let's talk it over in that corner." Yang Ce pointed to a spot in the corner of the room.

Huang Lin hardly wanted to air the family's dirty laundry in public, and given his friendship with Yang Ce, he had to give him some face no matter what. So the two of them walked side by side toward the corner.

"Now tell me. What exactly is going on?" No sooner had Huang Lin sat down than he pressed the question, the composure he had shown when they met in Songjiang entirely gone. Care makes one rash; where his own sister was concerned, Huang Lin could hardly help his anxiety.

"How to put this... it's a long story," Yang Ce said, rubbing his chin. He hesitated a moment before continuing. "Lele and I met on a plane."

Thereupon Yang Ce recounted to Huang Lin the general course of how he had come to know Huang Yan. Since Huang Lin was no outsider, Yang Ce even told him the part about how Huang Yan had pushed him down herself.

Hearing that his little sister could be so "fierce," Huang Lin's eyes went wide as saucers, and he stared at Yang Ce in disbelief. "And then the two of you got together?"

"I've never been the sort to cast a girl aside once I've had my way with her. Since Lele and I already had that kind of relationship, then..." Yang Ce gave an innocent shrug. It was plain that Huang Lin was no longer angry, for however one looked at it, the blame could not be laid on Yang Ce—it lay with his own mischievous sister, who had acted with such abandon and dared to do something so bold. Huang Lin felt caught between laughter and tears. This sister of his had never suffered the least grievance since childhood, and now that she had taken a small grievance from Yang Ce, retaliating was only natural—except this particular method of retaliation made it hard to say whether she had gotten her revenge on Yang Ce or simply done him a favor. "So, does that mean Lele knew you already had a girlfriend?"

"She knew from the start," Yang Ce confessed. "But we agreed in the beginning that we were only lovers. Then after a few days together, feelings grew, and before we knew it we had muddled our way into being boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Hahaha!" Huang Lin burst out laughing heartily. "You two! Forget it—since it's come to this, I'll stay out of it. It was Lele's own decision, so as her second brother, I naturally won't interfere."

"Brother Huang, you really don't blame me?" Yang Ce could hardly believe Huang Lin had let him off so lightly.

"Why would I blame you?" Huang Lin said with a smile. "It was Lele's own choice. All I can do is support it."

In truth, it wasn't so much that Huang Lin was broad-minded. The crux of the matter was that he had always given his sister her way in everything—and besides, this business really couldn't be laid at Yang Ce's door. Yang Ce had already made it clear he had a girlfriend, yet his little sister had insisted on having her way with him. How could this muddled account be charged to Yang Ce's head?

"Brother Huang, thank you for your support." Yang Ce breathed a sigh of relief and spoke from the heart.

"All right, no more 'Brother Huang' from you. Just call me Second Brother, same as Lele does. I also have an elder brother above me." Huang Lin corrected him. "Now our relationship has to be reckoned anew."

"Second Brother," Yang Ce called, and the words came from the heart. Huang Lin was older than him to begin with, and he was Huang Yan's own second brother, so no matter how the relationship was reckoned, Yang Ce came out ahead.

"Heh, looks like I've wasted my efforts this time. I'd meant to use this gathering as a chance to find Lele a fine young man for a boyfriend," Huang Lin said with a laugh. "But to be honest, if you didn't already have a girlfriend, I'd be quite glad to see you and Lele together. But what's the use of being unwilling now? My little sister has already cooked you into a done deal—it's too late to take it back."

Yang Ce stared at Huang Lin, speechless. Why did that way of putting it sound so awkward?

"By the way, Second Brother, let me introduce you to two of my friends." Yang Ce suddenly remembered that Zhang Bin and Wang Mei were still waiting for him over there.

"Good, let's go. Your friends are my friends," Huang Lin said. "I won't mention the Songjiang business again to thank you. If you run into any trouble in Macau, just come to me."

"Heh, I haven't run into any trouble so far." Yang Ce walked with Huang Lin toward where Zhang Bin was waiting.

"That's Lele's second brother?" Over there, Wang Mei was pointing at Huang Lin and whispering to Zhang Bin.

"Huh? How does the boss know him?" Zhang Bin looked in puzzlement at Yang Ce, who was chatting and laughing with Huang Lin.

"How should I know? He's your boss," Wang Mei said, equally puzzled. By rights the two men shouldn't know each other. Yet they seemed oddly familiar. She had assumed Yang Ce would have a hard time getting past Huang Lin, but now it looked as though that was no problem at all.

As the two of them were talking, they saw Huang Lin and Yang Ce walking over together.

"Second Brother, let me introduce you. This is my good friend Zhang Bin, and that's his girlfriend, Wang Mei," Yang Ce said, indicating Zhang Bin and Wang Mei.

"Wang Mei?" Huang Lin had been surprised more than once today. Why did it feel as though everything had been turned upside down? Yang Ce had become his little sister Huang Yan's boyfriend, and Lele's good friend Wang Mei had somehow become the girlfriend of Yang Ce's friend. What on earth was going on?

Wasn't Wang Mei with Liu Jihao? Huang Lin knew Wang Mei quite well—she was always being pressed into service as his little sister's spy, and so he had met her boyfriend a few times as well.

"Second Brother." Wang Mei rose somewhat awkwardly and greeted Huang Lin.

"So it really is you, Wang Mei. What are you—" Huang Lin had thought his eyes were playing tricks on him just now; only when he heard Wang Mei greet him did he confirm that the person before him was indeed his little sister's good friend Wang Mei.

"Liu Jihao and I have broken up," Wang Mei said softly.

"Oh." Huang Lin nodded in sudden understanding, but did not press further. After all, this was hardly the time or place for such questions—Wang Mei's current boyfriend, Zhang Bin, was standing right there, and dwelling on the subject would only add to the awkwardness.

"Hello, Huang Lin." Huang Lin extended his hand to Zhang Bin.

"Hello, Brother Huang. I'm Zhang Bin, Yang Juehuan's good friend." Zhang Bin extended his hand as well and clasped Huang Lin's.

"We're all friends from here on out—whatever comes up, we help each other." Huang Lin clapped Zhang Bin warmly on the shoulder. "Don't stand on ceremony here. If you need anything, just call on me."

Zhang Bin murmured his thanks, but Wang Mei was on rather familiar terms with Huang Lin already, so the two of them skipped the pleasantries.

"Brother Huang, if you have things to attend to, go on ahead—I'll be fine here." Seeing more and more guests arriving, Yang Shuoxuan did not want to keep prattling with Huang Lin; after all, there were countless matters at a reception that required Huang Rong to see to.

Huang Lin did indeed need to go and look after things, so he nodded to Yang Yuting and went off into the crowd of guests.

In truth, many children of wealthy families were not especially arrogant or supercilious. Only a small portion of those whose egos had swollen to the extreme would do anything particularly ostentatious.